California wildfire aid requires state forest management changes


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Federal aid for California’s wildfire recovery will come with conditions, according to Ambassador Ric Grenell, President Donald Trump’s special missions envoy. The announcement comes following the devastating fires that swept through Los Angeles last month.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington, D.C., Grenell shared insights about the administration’s approach to providing assistance. “I don’t have faith that if we went back and just gave California hundreds of millions of dollars, they were gonna go back to their same old ways of not giving us enough water, having dangerous situations on the ground in terms of forestry — it’s going to happen again,” Grenell said.

One of the potential targets for these conditions could be the California Coastal Commission, which Grenell harshly criticized. He described the commission as “a disaster” and characterized its unelected members as “crazy woke left.”

The development follows a town hall meeting in Pacific Palisades last month, where Trump designated Grenell to lead the initial wildfire response. During the same meeting, Trump agreed to establish a special master position to oversee the distribution of federal recovery funds.

The special master’s role will be modeled after the oversight system used for the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund. This position will ensure that federal money is properly allocated to resident recovery efforts and prevent potential diversion of funds by state and local government authorities to other projects.

 

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